Monday, April 25, 2011

Basic Badminton Rules - Simplified

Listed in this article, are some simple basic badminton rules that will be followed.
Assuming that a Player A and his opponent B are going to play a singles badminton match, the rules are as below:

1. A & B have a coin toss first. The player winning the toss can choose whether to serve or on which side of the court to start play with. If player A wins the toss and chooses to serve first, then opponent B can choose the side on which he will start play.

2. Player A makes a serve (also called as service in badminton) by hitting the shuttlecock to player B who is standing diagonally opposite to him, to receive the serve. (i.e. a simple rule of badminton service is that it always a cross court one)

3. While A is serving, player B cannot touch the lines, till A has hit the shuttlecock with his racket.

4. When a player is making a serve in badminton, the shuttlecock always has be hit from below the waist height. If it is hit from above waist height then it will be ruled as a fault, and opponent shall get the point.
5. At no time during a rally, can A or B touch the net, by their rackets or by their body.

6. Also as per rules, while hitting the shuttle, it should not be carried on, or come to rest on the racquet. This would be ruled as a fault, giving the point to the opponent.

7. Both the players should not reach over the net and hit the shuttlecock which is still on the opponents side of the court, which will also be a fault as per badminton rules and regulations.

8. Whenever a rally is won, a point is added to a player's score who wins a rally.
(In earlier days the rule was different. At that time, when a player lost a rally on serve, he only lost the right to serve next, but not a point. The service simply changed hands in such a case. This resulted in considerable delays in many cases, as games used to get prolonged for an indefinite amount of time, as service kept changing from one player to another without the scores increasing. Now those rules have been changed).

9. A player wins a point when he hits the shuttlecock during a rally such that it touches the floor on the opponent's side of the court, or when the opponent has faulted. The shuttle has to be properly hit over the net and has to land within the boundary lines of the court on opponent's side. Sidelines for singles and doubles play are demarkated separately on the court.

10. The shuttlecock cannot be hit twice in succession by a player. (A player can only hit it once, and the shuttle has to reach the opponent with a single stroke).

These are some of the basic badminton rules listed in a simple uncomplicated way, to help you get started and start enjoying the game.